A pirate's treasure
by Tak Dragon
Summary: Antonio is a pirate. His life is average, until he meets Lovino, who should be worth a lot. He doesn't know what that is, though. But that won't stop him from finding out!


**Ciao, everyone~ This was originally for the contest for Spamano-FC on DeviantArt, but I decided to publish it here too! I hope it's not too long... Enjoy it~! **

* * *

His body was limp. He had no way to move. He couldn't even breathe. All that came out of his mouth were sharp gasps, which were only hurting him more. His whole body was aching. Everything... was dark. He could see everything perfectly, from the dusty stones on the ground to the people walking past him. It were his feelings, his heart, which were dark. He couldn't even understand what had happened...

He put his pale hands on the ground, and pushed himself forward, trying to ignore the deep cuts that were made by the sharp stones under his stomach. If only he could get to the sea... If he could get just a little further... Then he could call for help, and everything would be alright.

Before he could get even further than a meter, something crushed his fingers. It felt like all of his bones were broken. He screamed out, but quickly got slapped to silence. That was right. He wasn't allowed to draw attention. The only thing he could do was to lie there, waiting for the next form of torture.

The man in front of him smirked. He had dirty teeth. Definitely not a pleasant sight. The man kicked his side, and yelled at him to stand up. With lots and lots of effort, he managed to do just that. The chains around his wrists were cutting into his skin, as the dirty human pulled him with him. Step for step, he went forward. Nobody seemed to care about him...

Suddenly, there was another person, in the distance. Somehow, this person seemed to stand out. Unlike all the others, who were wearing just some old clothes, this man had a long, bright red coat. Some strange kind of hat on his head. A strange white thing on his hat, which looked like a bird had been landed there. It was all just too strange.

The red man turned around, and let his dark green eyes trail over the younger boy's figure. He then looked up at the other man, and they talked a bit. It was not understandable about what; they were talking in some foreign language.

Finally, they decided to stop talking, and the red man stared at the boy again. "What's his name?" Hah, finally, this was something he could understand... His name. His name was Lovino. That's what everyone called him. His brothers, his father, the people who lived near him. The man next to him called him different. Scum, Lovino believed.

"Doesn't matter." What? It mattered what his name was! "He is worth a lot." They again started talking about something that wasn't understandable. Lovino's thought wandered off, as he stared around him. Would the people here know what the men were saying? Would they find this normal? Lovino didn't... He knew that he was different from them. But he wasn't worth it, to be led around like this! He was worth so much more!

With a slap on his cheek, his thoughts got interrupted. He looked up, to find the dirty man still grinning at him. He was just about to wonder what he was supposed to do, when he suddenly got kicked into the red man's arms. The latter just looked at Lovino. "Let's see what you are worth, kid. It's unbelievable that he's asking so much for you..." The man felt down Lovino's arms, shaking his head as if he didn't agree with something. The hands moved further down, sliding against Lovino's stomach and sides, before they ended up on his butt. It made the young man feel really uncomfortable...

"Hah, you're worth nothing," the red man mumbled. "I will take him. But not for so much money." He dug in his red coat, and handed the man something, though Lovino couldn't see what it was. "There. This is it. I won't give you any more." At that moment, the red man smiled gently. "Come on, kid. Let's go." He took Lovino's chains in his hand, and pulled the boy with him.

They went away from the dirty man. The rest of the walk was spent in silence. They went towards a big ship... Lovino stared around him with huge eyes. He saw a few other dirty men standing on the ship, and looking at him. The red man guided him on the ship. Lovino didn't want to. He didn't want to see more dirty men. The red man noticed that he was trying to get away, and suddenly, Lovino's feet were away from the floor, and he was now in the human's arms. He couldn't struggle. He could only wait, while he was carried somewhere inside.

He got lowered on a bed. It was soft... He looked around him, and saw a small wooden table, and a few other things, which he immediately forgot when he noticed the man's dark eyes on him. He shivered. The red man stepped closer to him, his hands on his hips, and glared at Lovino. "Now, what's your name? I can't call you kid all the time, can I?"

Lovino quickly shook his head. He didn't like to be called a kid. He knew what that was. A small human. He wasn't that small! "I'm... Lovino," he whispered.

"Lovino, huh?" The man moved a bit closer, making Lovino scoot back in fear. "My name's Antonio. I'm the captain of this beautiful ship~ And you... You will stay here, with me. You will be mine. Only mine. I will give you food, a place to sleep, and protection. Only if you stay here..."

Lovino only nodded. He was going to act as if he was going to listen right now. At least until he got his food, because damn, he was starving! He could use some nice rest, too... His body needed to heal...

Antonio stared at him for a little while. "I'm not going to leave you alone on here. But you do look as if you need sleep... Lie down, kid. Close your eyes. You're going to need to help us as soon as you wake up..." The black boots made their way over the wooden planks, towards the chair. Antonio sat down there, and started to write something. Lovino didn't really understand writing. But he knew how it worked... They made little figures on a paper, and that was supposed to sound like what they were saying.

Anyways, it was not really useful to keep thinking about this. He couldn't even wonder what had happened to him now... He was only glad that this Antonio hadn't slapped him already. He figured that he couldn't escape either, when the captain was in this room... He just lied down on the bed, and closed his eyes.

* * *

As soon as he came to his senses, he noticed some warmth pressing against his chest. He immediately recognised it as a person, and his instincts told him to back away. With a loud yell, he pushed himself back, and crashed into the floor.

"What the hell are you doing...?" the dark voice of the man in the bed asked, and Lovino could see how Antonio sat up. "I can finally sleep..." His eyes looked straight into Lovino's ones.

"I... Nothing, damn it..." Lovino stood up, and rubbed his back a bit. The wounds from the past few days had almost healed, due to the good rest he had this night...

Antonio stepped out of the bed, and the boy watched how he put his clothes on. "I have something for you too, kid," the captain mumbled, throwing some brown coloured fabric in Lovino's direction. The young man looked at it, and then pulled it over his head. It was at least nice to have something more on his body than just that cloth to cover his parts...

After that, he got some dark brown pants. They looked as if they had been hidden in a dark place forever, and only now got to see the light... The same story with the black boots. They were far not that fancy as Antonio's, but they were alright.

Antonio took Lovino's arm in his hand again, and the boy had no other choice than to follow him outside. A bright blue sky greeted them. It was warm. Lovino liked it when it was warm... Only now, he noticed that the ship he was on, was actually moving. They were travelling forward, pushed by the waves. Lovino heard that humans usually got sick from being on a ship, but he himself really liked the way the ship gently moved from side to side. It made him feel calm, somehow. Maybe because he was used to it?

However, he didn't have much time to think, because suddenly, a bucket filled with water was pressed in his hands, together with a broom. "Clean," the captain demanded.

Lovino stared at him with big eyes. Clean? He? Really? Of all things... He was about to protest, but Antonio's dark glare stopped him. Softly muttering to himself, he went to work. Well, anything was better than being that dirty man's slave... Whatever. His escape would come soon. If only he wasn't standing in the middle of the ship, with all the other men watching him...

Antonio placed his hand on Lovino's shoulder. "He's mine," he growled at the men. "And anyone who even THINKS about touching him, will return home with their hands cut off!" He leaned down, and smirked at Lovino. "And you..." he whispered. "You won't touch anyone either. Or try to escape... That man back there said that you were worth something... Well, I want to see that. Or else, I can always throw you into the waves. Let's see how you survive that..."

Well, that didn't sound like a very bad idea to Lovino. Unlike most humans, he knew how to survive. He would be saved, if the captain would throw him into the water...

"...with your legs tied to each other," Antonio quickly added. Oh, shit... That was something else. That would really be a problem...

"So, don't escape, little kid. And clean. As soon as I come back, everything has to be clean, or else..." He patted Lovino's head, before he walked away. The younger man could only stare, wondering what was exactly happening to him... Then, he shook his head, and continued cleaning, though he didn't stop glancing at the men around him once in a while. Despite of what Antonio had said, it was better to just be careful.

The day went by soon. Lovino had only been cleaning, and planning his escape, though he knew that it would be difficult with all these men around... Maybe he could sneak somewhere at night. Then he would quickly strip, and jump into the water. Then he could quickly swim home!

But that had to wait. First, he had to know how to get out of this room. He was in the captain's room again, sitting on the bed while Antonio worked on something at his desk. There was no way to get out of here right now. That was a problem. Even if he ran as fast as he could, the captain would still be faster, since he was sitting right next to the door...

Lovino turned, and looked out of the window. He wondered where they were... From the ship, all he could see were dark clouds and waves. It was already getting dark, and he didn't know any places above the water. He fell back on the bed, and sighed loudly. Antonio ignored him. Lovino rolled over, and closed his eyes. He wanted to be asleep before he got forced to feel Antonio's arms around him again...

Lovino sighed a bit, as he walked out of the room. It was really bright outside, again. Antonio had told him to clean, again. Damn it, why did those people need to clean that often!? It was weird, and annoying! With this, his longing to go home only became stronger.

He looked around him, scanning his surroundings. Antonio was still in his room, and the other guys were looking away right now... This was his chance! He quickly sprinted away, and already made a move to jump. That was, when something suddenly grabbed him from behind, and pulled him back. Lovino gasped, and fought to get free, wildly slamming his arms around him. Finally, he hit something, and he was released.

Instead of running away again, since that wouldn't work anymore, he quickly turned around. Right in the face of the captain. Lovino's eyes widened, and he gasped loudly. "Wa...Wha..."

Antonio glared at him, and tightened his grip on the boy's shoulders. "The fuck do you think you are doing!?" the man roared, his face coming dangerously close to Lovino's. "Did you want to escape?"

Lovino slowly nodded, too afraid to tell the captain a lie. The answer was obvious, anyway. Why else would he run there so quickly?

Antonio frowned, and his eyes darkened. "You are a worthless little shit. Do you really think you could escape like that? I won't let you leave. At least not before I know what you're worth. So now go to our room. And don't get out of there again, before I say you can! Or else..." He narrowed his eyes, and Lovino quickly nodded, before he ran away, and locked himself in the captain's room.

* * *

The following day, he woke up yet again in Antonio's arms. Once again, he wanted to get away as fast as possible. He pulled Antonio's arms away, and stood up. He quickly went outside, ignoring the stirring of the other.

Lovino ran outside, and sat down on the floor. He watched how a few men were already working, and he yawned a bit. He leaned back, staring at the sky once again. As long as Antonio wasn't awake, he wouldn't have to clean yet.

Though... He couldn't stay there for long... He shivered a bit, when he saw Antonio coming outside and walking closer to him. The man stood in front of Lovino, and glared down at him. "Did you forget what I said? Don't get out of our room, before I say that you can."

He sat down next to the boy, and stared at him. "You are a stupid kid. You have to listen to the captain. Understand that?"

Lovino slowly nodded, before he looked away and blushed in embarrassment. He had never liked to get confronted with something he had done.

"Good," Antonio grumbled. "Now cheer up. We have some more work to do." He patted Lovino's back, and stood up again. "Go and clean. We still have a long journey to go." With those words, he walked away.

* * *

Lovino sighed softly, while he worked. It had been a few days ago that he had tried to escape, and he wouldn't quickly try it ever again. He was still afraid of Antonio. He didn't want to get hurt by him, ever. Well... The good part was that he hadn't been hurt yet... He hoped that that would never happen.

He yelped a bit when he suddenly felt how the ship stopped moving. He looked up, and noticed that they were close to a town... How the hell hadn't he seen that before?

Antonio, once again, walked closer to him. "Listen, Lovino. We are going into town. I still don't trust you, so you aren't allowed to stay alone on the ship. You're coming with me now."

Lovino gasped, but he didn't have much time to actually think about it, before Antonio pulled him away, holding onto his arm. They stepped on the land, Lovino's legs were actually wobbling because he had become this used to walking on the ship...

Antonio bought some food and other stuff, that Lovino didn't really care about. He was forced to follow the captain everywhere he went, and when they were finally done, he was really tired...

"Let's sit somewhere," Antonio said, apparently he noticed it... He walked over to a hill behind the stores, and sat down there, between the flowers. Lovino shook his head; the pirate looked oddly at peace when he did that. If they had been complete strangers, he might even have thought that Antonio was innocent!

Having no other choice, he sat down next to Antonio. He stared at the flowers around them, and couldn't help but to smile. It looked so peaceful...

Suddenly, he felt something brushing against his ear. His eyes widened, and he saw Antonio pulling his hand back from Lovino's ear. The boy moved his hand up, and felt... a flower. He glared at the pirate, and rolled his eyes. "The fuck...?"

Antonio smiled softly. "It looks good on you." He lied back into the flowers, and stared up. Lovino looked at him for a while, before he lied back too. Somehow... he kinda liked it here. Even if Antonio was the one next to him.

He even allowed the man to hold his hand, instead of his arm, as they walked back to the ship.

* * *

Once again he woke up in Antonio's arms. Only now, he realised that he didn't mind it at all anymore. He just let the damn bastard do whatever he wanted... Not that he liked it, but he also didn't hate it. Maybe because he finally accepted that he didn't have any choice, no matter what... Not wanting to get away that much anymore, he closed his eyes, and fell back asleep.

Suddenly, he got thrown to the side. He let out a yelp, when his back crashed into the wood of the desk. He stood up, rubbing his back, shaking on his legs. It was as if the whole room was turning, as if it was upside-down, spinning around... He could hear several people yelling at each other, outside. He needed to know what was going on!

He stumbled towards the door, and fell against it. Fuck, he was almost throwing up... He slowly pushed the door open, and wanted to peek outside, but all he saw was black. Then the door got slammed shut. A voice on the other side, which he recognised as Antonio's, shouted at him. "Stay in the room, don't get out!"

Then there were sounds of footsteps, running away, followed by some strange rumbling. Something was falling, crashing into something else, men were screaming...

Lovino blinked. He was curious as to what was going on. He wasn't really able to imagine something that would cause such sounds. He wasn't allowed to go outside though... But Lovino wouldn't be Lovino, if he just listened to anything someone told him. He pushed the door open, and stepped outside.

He gasped, it felt as if someone had thrown all the water of the sea against him at once... His whole body was soaked at the first second. It was raining. Hard.

He could see how the waves splashed over the edges of the ship, knocking people over. Lovino gasped at the sight. Incredible, how the strength of water could sink a man... While water didn't look that dangerous at all...

He caught sight of two green eyes staring at him from across the ship. He saw a mouth opening, and he knew that Antonio was yelling something at him, but his voice got lost in the sounds of the storm.

Lovino didn't like it here outside, he wanted to go back to his room, but then the ship made a strange move, and he fell down on his side, rolling towards the edge. He tried to get up, but he only made it halfway before yet another wave knocked him down again. The ground only made it harder for him to get up, he only slipped.

On his hands and knees, he tried to crawl back to the room again, but it didn't work at all...

Suddenly, two arms around him. "Stay still, Lovino, I will help you." Lovino pressed himself against Antonio, desperate to get saved...

The strong captain just continued to hold him, and hush him gently. He pulled Lovino up, and together they stumbled to the room. They were there, almost... almost...-!

Water. Everything was water. He needed to breathe. He couldn't, not now...

Finally, he reached the surface. The ship was in front of him. From his position in the water it looked huge...

He heard the shouting of the men on the ship, couldn't understand, couldn't hear, water, oh god, air... air...

He gasped, finally, he could breathe again... His hair was clinging to his face. He looked to the side, and saw there, a familiar head. He kicked his feet, trying to swim through the waves. He stretched his arms out, closed them around the man. Under the water, he could notice the prescence of something else. He pulled Antonio closer to him, as if to protect him... A black shadow came closer, but quickly disappeared again. Good...

Antonio was leaning against him, almost sinking. Lovino pulled him up, and looked at the ship again. One of the men had thrown a rope towards them. Lovino quickly tied Antonio to the rope. As soon as the captain was safe, everything was alright.

But Antonio didn't seem to think like that... He held his arms tightly around Lovino, even though he was almost unconscious... Before the younger man could question him, the rope got pulled up. Not long after, they were both on the ship again, lying on the wet floor.

One man wanted to carry Antonio back to his room, but the captain protested, and stood up himself. "C-Come, Lovino," he mumbled. The boy nodded, and stood up. He was in a better state than Antonio, but it was still a bit hard to walk...

Eventually, they managed to reach the room. Antonio collapsed on their bed, and Lovino had no other choice than to follow him. The older man was trembling like crazy... He needed some other clothes.

Lovino slowly started to undress him. He removed the several layers of clothing on Antonio's upper body, and threw them to the side. He wanted to run his hands over those glorious abs, something just seemed so inviting about them... But then he saw Antonio's eyes, looking at him with a strange sparkle. He quickly removed his hands, and looked at the side.

The pirate moved his own hand up, and cupped Lovino's cheek. The strange sparkle in his eyes only became stronger. Then, suddenly, Lovino was on top of him. He wanted to crawl back, but Antonio's strong arms prevented him from leaving.

He didn't know what to do anymore. His only choice was to stay here, and listen to Antonio's breathing pace, until he fell asleep.

* * *

A few days had passed, and both Antonio and Lovino were completely healthy again. They were able to do everything again, though Lovino obviously had to do less boring or hard tasks. He was allowed to relax more often... At those times, Lovino loved to stare at the sea. Strange enough, he didn't feel the need to escape anymore. He actually got quite used to the life on the ship, and he kinda liked it.

He was just standing there, with the wind running through his hair, when he suddenly saw something in the distance. It slowly became bigger and bigger, until he realised what it was. He quickly ran towards Antonio. "There's a ship over there. What do we need to do about it?"

Antonio raised his brow, and walked over to the side with a quick pace. He stared at the black shadow. Then he turned, and yelled some commands at the others. He looked down at Lovino, and patted his head. "Go to our room, until I come and get you. Don't trust anyone else. Only me."

The boy growled. "Why? Why can't I ever do anything useful!? I'm worth a lot, remember? And how can I prove that to you when you won't let me do anything?"

Antonio glared down at him. "Don't forget who's the captain here, kid. That we just happened to sleep in the same bed doesn't mean that you can decide what you may or may not do."

Lovino quickly shook his head. "I also saved you, remember!? I was the one who-"

"I could have grabbed that rope by myself. It wasn't hard at all. You were just a little bit faster. And now go." The captain harshly gripped Lovino's shoulder, and shoved him away. "Go!"

The younger man glared at him, and then sighed. He stomped towards the room, and slammed the door shut. He went all the way to the corner, and kicked the wall. Why? Why wasn't he ever allowed to do something useful? Why wasn't he allowed to prove himself? He hated this!

He sat down against the wall, growling angrily. He crossed his arms, and glared into space. If it would end up with a battle between the two ships, he would prove Antonio that he was actually good enough!

Somehow, it had become a lot darker in the room. Had he fallen asleep...? Most likely... He stood up. Once again, he could hear shouting and yelling outside. His instinct told him to stay inside. He didn't want to get hurt or killed or anything like that. He could just go to sleep and the next morning everything would be fine.

But at that moment, he remembered his promise. He had promised himself that he was going to be strong now. He kicked the door open, and stepped right into battle.

Blood everywhere, swords and knives flinging through the air, almost hitting him. He panicked a lot, but he shook his head, and stepped forward. He had to find Antonio now. He ran to one of the higher points on the ship, and looked around him, dodging fighting people on the way. He couldn't even see which one belonged to Antonio's ship or the stranger's.

Finally, he thought he saw something red flashing. Well, he saw several red things, but this thing was not covered in blood. He quickly ran in its direction.

He gasped when he saw it. Antonio, his whole body covered in splatters of blood – that of several people – stood against another pirate, a captain obviously. He was wearing the same thing as Antonio, only it was all a dark green. The strange pirate had light green eyes, a sick grin on his face, covered by short, blond hair.

Antonio stepped forward, swords clashed, Lovino didn't know what to do. He wanted to run away and hide somewhere. He wanted to step between them and help Antonio. He didn't know what he wanted!

At that moment, the strange captain pulled something out of his coat. A long, black thing. Lovino had seen this before. It was dangerous. A gun!

Without thinking, he jumped forward. A deafening sound pierced through the air, straight into his stomach. He fell to his knees, gasping for air. He could barely feel someone's arms around him, he hoped that it was Antonio... His sight disappeared. Everything became black, red, green, blue, black again.

* * *

Antonio's heart clenched at the sight of the small boy falling in front of him. He quickly held his arms around him, as if to protect him more, even though that was already too late now...

"You," he snarled at his rival. He stood up, holding Lovino with one arm. "You filthy, sick freak! You animal! You will pay!" He quickly started to slash with his sword, not even caring where it ended up. His anger was making him blind. And he didn't give a fuck.

As soon as he noticed what he was doing, it was already too late. The other captain, Arthur, was standing above him, ready to attack. Antonio noticed it, he quickly stepped to the side, but not without losing his balance. Holding Lovino in one arm was not really helping.

He stumbled back, and dropped his sword to the ground to hold Lovino tighter. Arthur stepped closer to him, laughed in his sick way, and the next thing Antonio knew was that he was embraced by cold water. He gasped for air, kicking himself up. When he reached the surface, he looked up, only to see more of his men being thrown into the water. Looks like he had lost this battle...

A faint whisper was heard, near his ear. Antonio quickly looked at the small form in his arms. "What is it, Lovi? What did you say?"

Another whisper, barely audible. Though this time, the pirate managed to hear what was said... slightly.

"Pants... off..."

What the hell? "Pants off? What do you mean with that...?" This time, Antonio didn't even care that he was supposed to be strong and powerful, he just couldn't help but to worry about the young man, even though he still hadn't proven what exactly he was worth.

"My...pants...off..."

"Your pants off? Lovino, I don't understand why, we need to get up, Lovino... We will die..." Antonio sighed softly, not knowing why Lovino would want something like that, and certainly at a moment like this... But he was going to die anyway, so he figured that, if Lovino really wanted it, he could do it.

He moved one hand towards Lovino's bottom, let it linger there for a bit longer than necessary, and pulled his pants down, while he still held Lovino. He lifted the boy's legs up, silently apologising to the pained face in front of him, and he removed both of the boots. He held Lovino in his arms, close to his chest. "Shhh..." he tried, but he knew that it wasn't going to work.

Suddenly, he felt Lovino shifting in his hold. At the next moment, his teeth were buried deep in Antonio's shoulder. The older man gasped, with wide eyes, and he tried to pull Lovino away, but it was not working...

As sudden as it had started, it was over. In front of him was a face, still the same, but with at each side two gashes looking as if they were opening and closing, covered with loose purple skin. Further down were Lovino's hands, still curled around Antonio's shirt, but now with sharp fingers, ending in a point, with purple fins surrounding his wrists. What was under the water wasn't visible to Antonio, but he was very sure that Lovino's legs had changed into something else, something more firm, something bigger... Could this be...?

Then Lovino sank down, until he was completely under the water, pulling Antonio with him. The captain quickly held his body, not wanting Lovino to sink... Then there was a loud screech, being carried through the water. The screech got answered by something that sounded like a whale's call.

Antonio quickly reached the surface again, and he felt Lovino's arms around him. He wasn't sure what was happening. At all. He couldn't believe his eyes. Was he still sleeping? Or... had Arthur knocked him out and was he seeing illusions? Because of the cold, maybe?

Something brushed past his leg. Antonio, thinking that it was one of his men, looked down, trying to identify him or maybe save him... But what stared back was a face, with the same gashes as Lovino's, only these ones were coloured blue. Two arms wrapped themselves around Antonio's waist, and he saw how another set of arms held Lovino.

Before he knew it, he was under the water again. The...merpeople...? were swimming quite fast, but still Antonio wondered what they were going to do... He was going to drown for sure. He stared at Lovino, who was hanging limp in the other mermaid's arms. Now his long, purple tail was visible, moving slowly in a pathetic attempt to swim. So... this was what he was actually worth...

They traveled all the way down at a surprising speed. Antonio almost couldn't hold his breath anymore, but none of the others seemed to be bothered by that... They went through some underwater cave. And finally, just when Antonio thought he couldn't hold on anymore, there was air. He took a deep breath, and immediately climbed on the first rock that he saw. He was panting lightly, he really thought he was going to die...

Lovino was lied next to him, on some sort of sandbank. The blood pouring from his stomach was everywhere, and it didn't seem to stop... Antonio slowly crawled closer to him. The two merpeople were already gone... He pulled the younger man close to him, and softly hummed something. He didn't know if it would help, but he had to try.

When he first took Lovino with him into the ship, he really hadn't thought anything of him. It had been really obvious to him that the man who sold him was lying about what he was worth. But he wanted some fun, and this seemed like a good chance. Never had he thought that something like this was going to happen...

The boy in his arms coughed, and then looked up. "Fe...li..." he choked out. Antonio stroked his hair. "I don't know what you are talking about, Lovino."

Lovino weakly pointed towards the water at the other side of the sandbank. Antonio nodded in understanding, and he lowered Lovino's body in the water. The merman called out again, and soon enough Antonio could feel the water moving, while he still held the boy in his arms.

A face appeared, almost identical to Lovino's, only with lighter brown hair, and almost golden eyes. What was purple on Lovino, was a pretty green on this new figure.

The new boy opened his mouth, and Antonio listened to what he had to say, but only shrill shrieks and screeches came out. A lazy slap on his face from Lovino, and he was quiet. The boy looked down, cleared his throat, and then shook his head. "Um!" What came out was a nice voice...

"L-Lovi! What did they do to you? Who is this man? Wait a bit... I will get something for you!"

The green merman pulled himself on the sandbank, and he pushed himself forward on his stomach, moving like a seal. That didn't look graceful... The next second, he was gone.

Antonio looked back at the boy in his hands, and pulled him on his lap instead. "It's alright. That... That boy will help you now."

"He's my brother," Lovino mumbled. It sounded as if talking hurt him... "Feli...ciano..."

"Hmm, I understand..." Antonio whispered. "He will take care of you. You don't have to talk anymore... Lovino."

"I saved you."

"Yeah. You saved me. You did a good job with that, Lovi..." He figured that it would be no use to say that he could have easily dodged the bullet. He sighed. What would have happened to Lovino if he was still on the ship? He was very sure that Arthur wasn't going to be nice to him...

Soon enough, Feliciano came back, with some plants in his mouth. He wobbled towards Lovino, and instructed Antonio to place him on the sandbank. Antonio did so, and Feliciano removed the boy's shirt and covered the wound with the plants.

Lovino closed his eyes. His breathing continued in an unsteady pace, making Antonio frown a bit. He couldn't let Lovino die now.

"He's resting," Feliciano said softly. "That's the best way for us to heal. He will be okay soon enough, and then you won't see anything of his wounds anymore."

Antonio looked at the boy, and raised his brow. "So... You are Lovino's brother."

Feliciano sighed a bit, and started to stroke his brother's hair. "Yeah. I am. I should probably ask who you are, and why Lovi likes you so much that he allowed you to come here..."

Antonio shook his head. "He doesn't like me that much. I locked him on my ship, and forced him to stay there. I was a pirate, you know. Not anymore, I guess... Some other pirate destroyed my ship. And then Lovino jumped in front of me, saving me from a bullet. We both fell into the water, and he called some people, who took us here."

Feliciano smiled softly. "He likes you. Or else he would have allowed the others to eat you."

The former captain's mouth fell open. "What? Eat?"

Lovi's brother nodded. "Yes! We eat humans! You didn't know? They taste so good~ And they are really easy to catch... I'm sorry about your ship!" His smile told Antonio that he really didn't mean that last thing...

"Yeah... Sure... So, I also don't know why Lovino 'allowed' me to go here, I don't understand anything actually. So when am I allowed to go back to my ship? I really need to check on it, and see if there are any survivors..."

Feliciano shook his head. "No. You can't. Lovino likes you, and he wants you here. Besides, we have all the right to keep you here, because you did exactly the same thing to him."

Shit, that was true... Antonio sighed. It looked like he was staying here for a while... He looked up, and saw that at the roof of the cave, there was an opening. But it was way too high. There was no way that he would be able to escape through there. He sighed softly, and looked back at Lovino. He looked strangely peaceful...

* * *

Before he had realised it, he had fallen asleep. He opened his eyes, and found himself embracing Lovino. Well... That was a bit strange, since he was pretty sure that he was at a distance from the young man when he fell asleep.

He sat up, yawned, and rubbed his eyes. Next to him he saw Lovino shifting. The wound on his stomach was already healed for a huge part.

Antonio looked at the boy, receiving a glare back. "You're stupid," the merman mumbled, before he sat up. Without wanting to, Antonio's gaze went down towards Lovino's hips. They were beautiful, even now they were ending in a fish tail. How hadn't he noticed that before..?

Suddenly Lovino pushed himself forward, dived into the water, and swam into the direction where Feliciano first came from, leaving Antonio all alone once again. Completely trusting that he would come back, the pirate leaned back against a rock, and stared up at the little bit of the sky he could see. He wondered what would happen if it rained. Would everything here become wet? Most likely...

Soon after, Lovino came back, and he pushed himself on the sandbank again. Another head popped up, looking a bit like Lovino's but older. He had a small beard on his chin, and sparkling brown eyes, which darkened as soon as he noticed Antonio.

"So, you're that guy."

The man climbed up. He really looked like an older Lovino, but with a dark red tail, covered in scars. His brown eyes stared at Antonio, who cringed a bit. "You are the guy that kidnapped my son."

Lovino hissed a bit, and placed his head on Antonio's lap. "Look. He's not dangerous. Only when he's on his ship. Which will never happen anymore, because it's destroyed." The boy sat up again, and stared at his father.

"I see, Lovi, I see." The older man -who still looked surprisingly young- took Antonio's face in both hands. "I don't trust him. But... if you are sure..."

Suddenly there was a sharp pain on both sides of his face. But before he could scream in pain, it was already over, and the man let him go. Antonio moved his hand up, to feel his cheek, but what he felt were also gashes, just like all the merpeople here had. What the hell was the purpose of this...?

Lovino pushed himself towards the other side, and sunk into the water. He stared at Antonio, and reached out with his strange hand. The captain looked at him for a while, before he nodded. He stood up, walked over to the boy, and entered the water. It was cool...

The merman shook his head, and sighed a bit. Then, he suddenly started to remove Antonio's coat, and everything that was under it, until just a white shirt remained. The pirate looked at the boy in a questioning way, but he didn't have any chance to actually ask something. Lovino pulled him with him towards the exit.

Strange enough, Antonio found that he didn't need to breathe anymore. So... That was what those things were for...

Lovino led him all the way out of the cave, and into the open waters. Antonio looked around him, while still holding the boy's hand. At first glance, it just looked like a normal place under the sea, just water, fish and plants. But when he looked a bit better, he saw several faces staring at him.

They were going at a really slow pace, even when Antonio had to swim by himself he could follow Lovino easily. He didn't mind though, that way he could see everything around him a bit better.

"This is where... we live. We have always lived here... Dad, Feli and I. I used to have another brother... but he left as soon as he got the chance. Went to meet a girl, he said... I still don't know where he is, or if he's still alive... If he hasn't been caught by some human... I hope he is fine..."

Antonio nodded in understanding. It felt weird, just being able to talk and breathe -or at least kind of- under the water, but he decided not to pay too much attention to it. That wouldn't help him anyway.

He followed Lovino, who was aimlessly swimming around, or so it seemed. All this swimming was making him tired. Finally, they went around a big rock, and Lovino stopped. He took Antonio in his arms, and swam on his back, making the other lie on top of him.

"When I was young..." he started. Antonio wondered why he was telling him all these things right now...

"When I was young, I wanted to see more of the world. More of the humans. I always heard that they were not only delicious to eat, but also made huge buildings on the land. I wanted to see that with my own eyes... So, despite of everyone around me warning me, I went up. And... I couldn't swim that fast yet, because I was still little, so then a shark attacked me. But before I knew it... a human had me in his hands, I was on the land, and the shark was gone. Only then I knew that humans weren't all horrible. Since that day, I never ate a human ever again..."

The pirate nodded again. He couldn't even imagine Lovino being able to eat a human. First, he thought that it was because he was too weak. Now, he saw that it was because, really, he was too sweet for that.

The merman swam up, all the time holding on to Antonio. It really felt nice, he had to admit. Even though Lovino's hands were still really freaky. He would never get used to that...

Antonio was relieved when his head was finally surrounded by air again. He climbed on the first land he saw. It was a small island, and he was able to see the other side from where he stood. If he was on a ship, he couldn't care less about it. Right now it felt like heaven to be able to stand here again.

Lovino followed him, lying on his stomach on the ground. He dug his sharp fingers into the sand of the beach, and closed his eyes. He let out several grunts of pain, while his whole body twitched. Antonio's eyes widened, and he quickly ran towards the boy and knelt down next to him. "Lovi?"

The grunts became roars, and the fingers moved from their place on the ground into Antonio's skin. The pirate was afraid to look down, because he really got the idea that Lovino's skin was being ripped apart...

After a painful minute, the boy finally stopped growling and trembling. Antonio stroked his hair gently, and then looked at his face. He looked really hurt... But his expression soon changed, and became peaceful again.

The captain sat straight up, and, even though he tried his hardest to remove his gaze, he couldn't stop his eyes from wandering over Lovino's body, all the way down. He blushed a dark red, and quickly looked away.

Lovino sat up, his tail had changed, and right now his hips were just ending in normal human legs again. His hands were normal, his cheeks were normal. Only now Antonio realised that the two white scars on both of his cheeks had always been there, they just hadn't been important enough for the pirate to notice.

The boy didn't seem to mind Antonio's eyes, he even crawled a bit closer to the captain. He let his head lean on his shoulder. "This is the only human land I was allowed to go to. In the middle you can actually see our cave."

Antonio stared at him for a moment, but leaned back on his arms. "I see, Lovino. It looks nice..."

"Yeah..." The merman closed his eyes. "It's really comfortable here. Since most of us don't like to be on the land, this was a place I could go to whenever I wanted to rest. It's horrible that I have to change all the time though. It hurts. Once, I forgot to change, and then... Well, a guy saw me... I tried to escape, but before I could change back and swim away, they already caught me. They... beat me up, and told me to change, but I couldn't. Then the dirty man wanted to get rid of me, so he gave me to you..."

Antonio listened intensely. He nodded, and patted Lovino's head. "I see... It was smart of you to not tell me what exactly you were." He had to admit, he would have done a lot of things with Lovino... Though that were things he couldn't do now anymore. Lovino's family would beat him up, and on top of that he didn't really feel the need anymore...

"I know, Antonio." Lovino turned his head, so that he could look straight at the pirate. "I knew that I couldn't trust you." He huffed, and looked away, crossing his arms. Antonio wrapped his arms around the merman. It would be the best to just stay friends with him, especially in the situation he was in now.

"You can trust me," he whispered. "I know that it wasn't like that on the ship... But right now, you can trust me."

Lovino growled, and the pirate could see that he pulled his legs up and wrapped his arms around them. "I will see about that. I know for sure that you are just going to leave me as soon as you get the chance. N-Not that I care, or anything. I will be glad as soon as you are gone. But I... don't want to be alone anymore..."

Antonio hugged him a little bit tighter. "You are really strange, Lovino," he laughed softly. "But I will promise you for now... I won't go away before you want me to. Besides, it's not really like I can go anywhere with these legs, while there is only water around..."

Lovino glared at the man. "Shut up, damn it. Dad can take care of your legs, but not now. First I need to make sure that you really won't disappear."

"Oh, and how are you going to do that, Lovino?" Antonio purred, with a smirk on his face. He didn't really know what was happening, but he really liked Lovi's scent.

The merman turned around, accidentally ending up in the captain's lap. "I... I... D-Damn it." His cheeks became red, and he quickly looked to the other side. "It's nothing. You won't do it anyway."

Antonio chuckled. "Are you sure of that? You can just tell me, and then I will see if I want to do it or not." He brushed his nose against Lovino's. "Tell me."

If possible, Lovino turned even redder. He narrowed his eyes, and growled at the man in front of him. It was really cute how he was trying to appear cool and brave, while in fact he was just nervous, Antonio thought with a smile. He let one hand trail down the merman's back, and let it rest on his butt. "So beautiful," he whispered.

Suddenly, the boy buried his hands in the pirate's hair, and pulled him closer, slamming their lips together. The taller man was surprised for a moment, but then he leaned in, his eyes half lidded. He tightened his hold on the small form, and let out a low groan.

As soon as it had started, it stopped again. Lovino immediately turned around, and buried his face in his hands, muttering something to himself. Antonio grinned, and covered his neck in small, soft kisses. "Is this enough to prove it to you?"

The merman growled again. "Y-Yeah. What...ever."

"Really, Lovino, if I knew that you wanted it like that, I would have done it much earlier..." the captain purred against the boy's soft skin. "You really just needed to tell me. I love you, Lovi."

Lovino's eyes widened, and he curled up in Antonio's lap. "You are a bastard."

"But you love me."

"Y-Yeah... I do."

And for the first time in his life, Antonio knew that it was true.


End file.
